Moxibustion is an important branch of acupuncture therapy and is one of important means in traditional Chinese medicine cure of disease. The acting ways of moxibustion include warm stimulation on the point during moxa combustion process, pharmacological action of volatile matters in moxa combustion and so on. Conventional moxibustion mostly comprises moxa column moxibustion and moxa stick moxibustion. However, whether moxa column moxibustion or moxa stick moxibustion, there is much smog released during moxibustion, which causes the patient and the doctor to difficultly withstand. At the same time, there is a risk that the patient may be scalded by the dispersed ash being burning during moxibustion. Furthermore, since the moxa column or moxa stick has not been packed by a container, moxa and thermal power is mostly wasted; temperature is not stable during moxibustion, the curative effect is affected, and the operation is not convenient, which have greatly limited the widespread applications of moxibustion.
Now, there are smokeless moxibustion product, moxibustion box and the like in the market. Most common smokeless moxibustion product is smokeless moxa stick, which is mixed mostly by carbonized moxa and wood carbon in certain proportions, the smoke is not strong during combustion, it is relatively convenient to use, however, since the material used is not moxa used by traditional moxibustion and naturally loses the moxibustion therapy effect offered by the traditional moxibustion, such smokeless moxibustion has not been the traditional moxibustion. Thousands of years ago, it was discussed and compared about the moxibustion in traditional Chinese medicine, it was concluded that moxa has the best moxibustion therapy effect compared to the other materials. Just as such, moxa was selected and fixed as moxibustion material in the development of thousands of years, there has been such “moxa” moxibustion. Accordingly, moxibustion can be considered as “moxa” moxibustion only in case that it selects moxa as the moxibustion material, and can not in other cases.
Whether the mixture mixed by carbonized moxa and wood carbon in certain proportions or pure carbonized moxa, has a varied property. Such moxa stick has a very high temperature of combustion, and it is easy to break and disperse during combustion, thereby causing the patient to scald, bubble, infect and so on. Although bubble moxibustion may be used in curing some special disease, such moxibustion therapy is disadvantageous to widely use, which is not easily to be accepted by people nowadays. Smokeless moxa stick differs from traditional moxa both in form and in nature, and basically, can not be called as “moxa” moxibustion; furthermore, the curative effect of traditional moxibustion is caused by a combination of various factors, including the pharmic property of moxa and all kinds of radiations produced during combustion, and is not a simple warm effect which now commercially available smokeless moxibustion basically only has so that it can not obtain true moxa moxibustion curative effect. Furthermore, the moxibustion temperature is still not stable, low or high, during moxibustion therapy using smokeless moxa stick, and is not easy to induce moxibustion transducing phenomena, thereby affecting curative effect.
The commercially available moxibustion box can control the combustion speed and temperature to some extent, but the controlling ranges is limited, also, the moxa column is not convenient to install, the moxibustion box is easy to overturn, and there is also the risk that the patient may be scalded by the dispersed ash and that fire occurs.